Pages

Monday, March 23, 2015

Getting Featured On Money Magazine

How I Got Myself
Featured On Money Magazine:

Can you anticipate a
potential future financial outcome?I
did.And believe it or not, I actually
do it quite often.Whether or not YOU believe
me is another story.Being a Generalist
Opportunist, I live in a world of “what’s possible.”Compare that to most people who live in a
self-doubting, incredulous, and “that’s not possible,” world.Why do most people shut off their stream of
thoughts that have them living out a scenario they themselves designed?People would rather not waste time thinking
of a future where a great thing is happening to them.This is sad, isn’t it?I understand why this is.The letdown of something not happening to
you, over-and-over, can be psychologically damaging to your ego.I don’t let my ego get in the way because I
aim with a shotgun, and not a pistol.In
other words, I shoot at everything as a Generalist Opportunity, and since I’m
shooting with a shotgun, I’m bound to hit something!

Sometime in October
of 2014, I received an email from the “Money Matters Panel.”I don’t know how they got my personal
email.Maybe I submitted my email
address when I first subscribed to Money Magazine?Who cares, really?MMP’s email was an invitation to be part of a
“panel,” more like an online community, that would contribute to the things
Money Magazine showcases.Let me share
the email I received after completing the tasks they asked of me in order to
become a member:

Dear Carlos,

We are excited to welcome you to the new Money Matters Panel
website! As a member of this community, you are encouraged to
participate in community activities, such as taking surveys, answering
polls, participating in group discussions, and more! You'll also be able
to interact with other members to share your opinions and ideas.
To begin, simply go to: http://moneymatterspanel.com/, and log in
using the email address and temporary password listed below. Once you log
into the site, we recommend that you change this password by visiting the
My Profile page, and then clicking “Change Password.”
Email: calilimexica@yahoo.com
Once logged in, take a few minutes to browse the site and see what we're
all about.Participate in the latest quick poll on the homepage,
and check out the discussion forums!

If you have any questions, you can always contact me at admin@moneymatterspanel.com
Thanks again, and we look forward to speaking with you!
Thank you,

Bob

Research Director, Money Matters Panel

What I can’t share
with you is the time I spent online answering over 100 new member Money Matters
Panel questions that would serve as their data about me. Field items included information about my
ethnicity, my age, magazines I read, the financial websites I frequent,
etc. The darn thing took me close to 45
minutes to complete. Let’s stop for a
second to consider some important thoughts.

Would you have
clicked on an email with the subject line: Money
Matters Panel? Maybe. Would you have read the email in full? Possibly.
Would you have then on your own time, clicked on the provided link for
taking a required questionnaire? Say you
had. Now, once starting the
questionnaire and seeing that you had multiple questions to answer, with a
status bar barely moving after each completed response, would you have ploughed
through? Most people would say, Screw this, I’m too busy, and click the
“x” at the top of the page, never to see it again. Having done the questionnaire, I can assure
you that it was cumbersome; enough to have made most people quit
midstride. Here’s where things come
together. I didn’t quit the process
myself because I had a potential financial future in mind even before I clicked
the provided link!

I thought,

Hey, maybe if I become a Money Matters
Panel member, and contribute often, I may one day be featured on their
financial makeover articles?

I love these
pieces.They’re my favorite articles in
the magazine.Love the photographs of
each family.Love how they present each
family’s finances and how they recommend financial action at the end.And I had always wanted to be on Money
Magazine in this format.Did I know at
the time how people made it onto Money Magazine?No!I
didn’t care.I hypothesized that people
made it onto Money by being active members of the Money Matters Panel.And I was wrong!Making it into the magazine had nothing to do
with your participation as described in the email above.I take that back, if you read the first
paragraph again, you’ll get to the part that says, “…discussions, and more!”That was the most important part of that
sentence, as it turns out.You see, just
a few weeks later I received this email:

Dear Carlos,

Get help with your investing challenges!

Has the volatile market caused you to flee
stocks for the security of cash and bonds? Are you close to 100% in stocks
but thinking now it might be time to dial back? Would you like to rework your
investments to generate more income from dividends and bonds? If so, we’d
like to help.

For an upcoming issue, MONEY is looking for
people who'd be willing to share their portfolio with our readers and in
exchange have a top-shelf financial planner examine their investments from
top to bottom and come up with a full financial plan.

To participate, you must be comfortable sharing
details of your personal and financial life (including your real names) and
being photographed for the story. We're particularly looking for people who
have an annual income of at least $50,000 for singles, $100,000 combined for
couples.

If interested, please send us a note at makeover@moneymail.com.
Please tell us a little about your investment challenges and include your
name, age, city, occupation, name and age of each member of the household,
email address, phone number, and a link to a photo, if possible. Please also
include a few details about your family’s finances, including income,
expenses, assets, and debts. All of this information will be kept
confidential until we talk and you agree to appear in the story. Everybody
has an investment challenge, so let’s hear yours!

Thank you, and thanks for reading MONEY
Magazine.

Sincerely,

Diane Harris

Executive Editor

And there it was: A
“what’s possible” outcome becoming more possible! My “that’s not possible” mindset readers are
probably thinking right now: Carlos,
you’re full of it! No way anyone thinks
to join a time consuming online community with the idea of doing so simply to
one day be in a magazine. Well, I
did! At this point in the story,
however, the outcome I pictured had not yet materialized. I still had to follow the instructions given
in the above email and apply. On
November 12th, I received an email from Paul Keegan, Money Magazine
contributing writer. A string of back
and forth emails between Paul and me ensued, too many to share here. They were follow-up questions that would
complete the Gomez family package, including pictures of my wife Jessica, and
our two toddlers, Rehani and Ajani. I
thought for sure we would make the cut.
Only to get this email from Paul at the end:

Want to keep reading? Subscribe to CCM Blog and not only will you have full access to my series on being Bold in America, but you'll also get my eBook ($9.99 on Amazon) for free! The button is on the left sidebar at the top. You can also follow me on Twitter: @COsvaGomez, like my FB Fan page or subscribe to my YouTube channel all from this homepage. Thanks for the support, amigos!